The Denver Nuggets make history: champions of the Western Conference of the NBA

The Denver Nuggets sealed the qualification for their first NBA Finals on Monday thanks to an impressive sweep against the Los Angeles Lakers by LeBron James (111-113 in the fourth game, 0-4 in the total of the Western final).

Denver, champion of the West

The team led by Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, who was the best in the West in the regular season, will seek the first ring in its history against the winner of the Eastern final, which the Miami Heat dominate 3-0 against the Boston Celtics .

With its shocking and unappealable victory by the fastest way against the Lakers, Denver also ended a streak of four straight West finals in which it ended up biting the dust.

LeBron, in a titanic and memorable night in which he only rested 4 seconds of the game’s 48 minutes, had two options to force overtime but his first shot went to the side of the board and the second, already on the buzzer, was blocked. by Aaron Gordon.

With the statistics against him since he has never come back from 3-0 against in the NBA, LeBron took responsibility at the moment of greatest despair for his team and, at 38, gave a wonderful recital of 40 points (15 25 shooting), 10 rebounds and 9 assists.

LeBron dazzled with 21 points in the first quarter and reached 31 before the break (a new record for him in a half of the playoffs).

But all that sweat, effort and epic took its toll on him in a second half that he came to with very little strength and in the end they were useless against some extraordinarily solid, compact and fearsome Nuggets.

Nikola Jokic had 30 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists and took the “Magic” Johnson award to the MVP of the Western final.
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The Serbian genius added his eighth triple-double in these playoffs and thus achieved a new record, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain (seven in 1967).

Murray (25 points) and Gordon (22 points) also shone in an overwhelming Nuggets in the third quarter (16-36) and who prevailed in a fierce combat with very limited rotations (Mike Malone used only seven players and Darvin Ham used eight of the Lakers).

Anthony Davis, from less to more, finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds for a Los Angeles team that closed its roller coaster this season after a disastrous start (2-10), a fabulous comeback and some exciting playoffs in which they eliminated the Memphis Grizzlies and the Golden State Warriors.

In the last minute, Jokic put the Nuggets at +2, the Lakers were no longer able to score despite the attempts of a LeBron with his tongue hanging out and Denver got the ticket for the first Finals in its history.

AFP

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